Alcohol: The Great Excuse
We have all heard someone say the phrase, “Oh man I was so drunk that I can’t believe I did that!” Then it is usually followed by a story about the person doing something they say they wouldn’t do except for the fact they were drunk. This effect of alcohol always intrigued me.
I didn’t really start drinking till the age of 26, so the drunk stories I use to hear were really interesting to me. I use to wonder why people would let themselves get that drunk. I would then worry what would happen to me if I ever got that drunk. Before I started drinking, this all seemed so puzzling. It seemed like there was a magic sweet spot of where you could enjoy drinking, but if you passed it that you might regret the things that followed.
As I started drinking I realized that this is a bunch of bull crap. I never got to the point I didn’t realize what I was doing. Believe me I tried! At first I thought maybe I just didn’t get drunk enough. Then there were a couple of times that I drank to the point I passed out. In each instance I still remembered what I did and remembered the thought process involved of all my actions. Sure I was a little louder and a little more whimsical, but it seemed I always knew what I was doing.
This got me questioning how could people actually do what they said in their stories. How could they do something they didn’t want to do? Then it dawned on me. These people probably did know what they were doing but didn’t want to admit it. This conclusion made perfect sense, especially since they had no problem telling their friends about it. Let’s be honest, if you truly were ashamed of something you did while you were drunk or sober, would you really tell someone? Wouldn’t you just keep it to yourself and let it be your little secret?
So as time went on and I got more and more experience drinking, it dawned on me. People were just using alcohol as an excuse for things they thought others might not find acceptable. Guys would use it as an excuse to be a jerk. Girls would use it as an excuse to let go and be a little slutty. There were many many things it could be an excuse for.
I’m not saying that alcohol doesn’t have an effect on one’s personality, but in my experience it really doesn’t make you do things you don’t otherwise want to do. There have been times that I’ve talked myself out of doing things, but then as I drank I found myself letting go and doing them. This wasn’t because the alcohol made me do something I didn’t want to do. It actually removed the fear of doing them. It allowed me to remove the excuses that I used to talk myself out of doing them. Instead I reasoned that if things went bad, I could easily say that I only did them because I was drunk. This has somehow become acceptable in our society.
So for good or bad, it really seems that alcohol is the great excuse. People can use it to hide their real feelings or their real desires. It is kind of like how some people use jokes. If you ask someone something inappropriate and they respond negatively, you can always say you were just joking. If they respond positively, then you have what you wanted in the first place. Maybe people just need to be more upfront with who they are and what they really want. Then we wouldn’t have to use alcohol as a mask or an excuse to do things.
